Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World

As sensitive and touching as it is urgent . . . [Wild Life is] a poignant exploration of the natural world. O, The Oprah Magazine

Wild Life is the bushwacking, honest, and inspiring memoir I wish I'd had as a budding scientist. Dr. Wynn-Grant's richly-told, revelatory journey will surely have remarkable ripples for generationsand have you on the edge of your seat. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, cofounder Urban Ocean Lab

In this vulnerable and urgent memoir, Rae Wynn-Grant explores the ever-shifting relationship between humans, animals, and the earth through her personal journey to becoming a wildlife ecologist.

Growing up in the diverse and bustling California Bay Area, renowned wildlife ecologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant always felt worlds away from the white male adventurers she watched explore the wilderness on TV. She dreamed of a future where she could spend sleepless nights under the crowded canopies of the Amazon and the starry skies of the savanna. But as Rae set off on her own expeditions in the wild, she saw natures delicate balance in a new light.

Wild Life follows Rae on her adventures and explorations in some of the worlds most remote locales. Hers is a story about a nearly twenty-year career in the wildcarving a niche as one of very few Black female scientistsand the challenges she had to overcome, expectations she had to leave behind, and the many lessons she learned along the way. An incredible journey spanning the Great Plains of North America to the rainforests of Madagascar, Wild Life sheds light on our pivotal relationship and responsibility to the natural world and the relativesboth human and otherwisethat we share it with.